Mudlines: Conception
by lilyandashley
Summary: A/U - Voldemort won the war. Harry's still in hiding, hunting Horcruxes. Despite a marriage law that binds Ginny Weasley to Draco Malfoy for life, Ginny's only worried about one thing: Hermione's missing. Rumors say she's been captured by Deatheaters... and that a spell is forcing her to carry Voldemort's baby in a crazy attempt to continue his existence even further. G/D. H/R.
1. Prologue

A/N: No copyright intended. All rights belong to J.K Rowling.

This Fanfiction will not follow the storyline past the sixth book. We have changed characters' personalities and situations for this story. It will be A/U.

We hope you enjoy! Also, please check out our author page. That would make us very happy pandas. :)

Lily & Ashley

By the time Ginny had graduated from Hogwarts, the war was over. Voldemort had won. Harry was supposedly in hiding, although she _had_ overheard Ron talking to Hermione about Horcruxes one night over the Christmas break. She had no idea what that meant, but she had a feeling it had something to do with stopping Voldemort's reign, and that gave her hope- even if only a little.

A marriage law was passed shortly after Graduation, a law to bind those together of pureblood status to purify the line of witches and wizards to be born into the Wizarding World for the years to come. She remembered the feeling of horror when she received her letter.

She had been assigned to Draco Malfoy.

But no matter how much she resisted- or how much pain it had put herself and her family through, the wedding commenced on September 5th. It was a small occasion, as her and Draco went to the Ministry of Magic alone to get their license. Then, she packed her things and, unwillingly, moved into Malfoy Manor shortly after.

However, despite the circumstances, it wasn't all as terrible as she had preconceived. With Lucius and Narcissa out of the house permanently (as the Deatheater Headquarters had recently been moved to a new location), and with an entire suite to herself on the opposite end of the Manor, she found herself pretty much alone most of the time. And she couldn't say that the Manor wasn't nice. It was luxurious- everything she had dreamed of when she was a kid. But this wasn't her fairytale, and she became depressed much of the time there.

The only contact she really had with Draco was during dinner, which was mandatory. She was starting to get the feeling that he didn't like very much being a Deatheater…

And to top it all off, Hermione was missing. Rumors swirled around a conspiracy- rumors that she had been captured by Deatheaters on Voldemort's orders, that she was being used to get Harry to come out of hiding.

Ron wouldn't talk of it. Ginny heard from her mother that he never left his room unless he was disappearing off somewhere mysterious. And during these disappearances, rumors were that he was with Harry, as Harry's face would sometimes pop up, usually in the darkest places of the world. People would swear that he had seen him- even if only for a moment. Ginny didn't know if these rumors were true- that people had actually seen Harry. But she did believe that Ron was with him wherever he was, helping him with whatever he was doing.

All she knew was that Ron was a mess, and so was she. She was scared. Had Hermione really been captured? If so, why? And where? Or did she go into hiding just like Harry had?

The dining room of Malfoy Manor was silent, except for the echoes of forks scraping against the most expensive crystal and the clinking of glasses of wine as they would both take a sip and place it back down against the mahogany table. This was usually how they spent their dinners- in silence.

Sometimes, however, they would make small talk. She didn't know why, but this is when she felt most happy- when they were talking. It wasn't that she liked him much. Or did she? She didn't know. All she knew was that when they talked, her worries temporarily went away and she could pretend that the world wasn't in such a state of terror, that Voldemort didn't win, that nobody was in danger, that everything was alright- for the moment.

Draco cleared his throat and wiped away at his mouth with a silk napkin.

"I'll be leaving tonight for a few hours."

Ginny nodded, looking down at the table, dejected, as she played with the food on her plate without really eating any of it. She hated being in the house alone, even if she was as far away from him as possible. It scared her.

But her interest was peaked.

"Another meeting?" she asked, looking up at him.

He usually never talked of the Deatheater meetings he went to, but when he did, he never seemed very happy about it- something she noticed with interest.

"Yes," he said. "Will you need anything while I'm gone?"

"No, I've got Libby," she said, speaking of the House Elf that Draco had assigned to her when she had moved in.

Nodding, he rose from his chair and placed his napkin on his plate.

"I must get ready. I will you check on you when I get home."

These were the times when she felt most confused. He would always say things as if he cared for her, but he didn't, did he? How could he? She didn't know, but she couldn't lie and say it didn't make her feel better about her situation at the end of the day.

Just as he was walking out of the dining rom, her heart jumped.

"Draco?"

He stopped and turned to look at her.

"Hermione-" she started.

She could see the recognition of her question in his eyes. He already knew what she was going to say. She looked down, feeling stupid.

"If you see her," she said quietly, her heart caught in her throat, "Please-"

"I will."

She didn't know what this meant- she never did. What could he do anyway even if he did find her? Bring her home? Free her? What was most confusing was that she didn't automatically assume anymore that he would do the wrong thing, the bad thing. She was starting to believe that he'd be honest with her, and she didn't know what that meant just yet.

"Thank you," she said, her eyes gleaming.

He nodded at her, turned, and walked away.


	2. Conception

As soon as Draco arrived, an unnerving feeling swept through him. He immediately noticed the bloodied body of a witch laying limp on the long, wood table in the dining room of Bellatrix Lestrange's home, which was the new Death Eater Headquarters.

After his multiple stints in Azkaban, his father seemed to have fallen in rank as Lord Voldemort's right hand man. Now, it was Snape who sat beside the Dark Lord at the table.

Only a select few of Voldemort's most trusted Death Eaters were there: Snape, his father, Bellatrix. Only two other men sat around the table, their cloaks shielding their faces from view.

This worried Draco. It wasn't often that Voldemort only called his most trusted… and he did not believe he was one of them. So why was he here tonight? He felt a lump in his throat, and tried to clear his mind, knowing that Voldemort would be scanning all of them in his constant paranoia, as it was found recently that somebody, though they didn't know who, was leaking information to the Order.

"Sit, Draco," Voldemort ordered, a crooked smile spreading about his face.

Draco sat immediately next to his father, and held his head down. He hated looking into those eyes. His memory went back to that day in class in Defense Against the Dark Arts. He remembered rolling his eyes at the day's assignment: learning how to beat a Bogart. Him and his friends had laughed- what a joke!

When it was his turn to go, the rattling door opened- and he had seen the smokey figure of his father standing there in front of him, telling him to be a man, to become a Death Eater just like he had done, and that it would bring their family more power than they could ever imagine. His stomach had dropped, and he immediately used the spell, turning the figure of his father into a badly dressed aged women.

Thinking back on it now, he realized how stupid he had been- believing that his father was his biggest nightmare. Now he knew that it was no longer his father that would appear if he were to face a Bogart again- it would be Voldemort himself.

"Now, I have called you here today to discuss something of the upmost importance," he said. "Today, we embark in our new world- the world that I have created for you. We have achieved much during this last year. The Ministry is now under our complete control, and we are currently riding our world of those who are not of blood status."

There were mumbles of excitement across the table.

"However," he said, beginning to frown. "We still have one issue to be taken care of, and that is Harry Potter. But I have a plan."

He raised his wand, and suddenly, the witch laying on the table was levitated up into the air above them.

"Everyone, meet Hermione Granger."

Draco's heart began to race. He had not recognized her before with the blood and hair that was matted to her face.

"Mrs. Granger here is our best asset," he said, his frown turning quickly into a smirk. "But what shall I do with her? Should I continue to hold her captive, hoping that Harry Potter will come to rescue her?"

"My Lord."

Everyone turned to look at Bellatrix, who was grinning from ear to ear. "Let me take the girl. I will make certain that Harry Potter will come running to her aid, and then I will bring him to you myself."

Voldemort laughed, and her grin fell.

"How considerate of you, Bellatrix," he said in a cold voice. "However, as much as I appreciate your enthusiasm for our cause, I have other plans for her."

"You see, despite my attempts to become immortal, I have not succeeded."

He did not dare mention the Horcruxes. That was his own secret to decide to share, only when the time was right. But it was not enough.

"But maybe- maybe there is a way."

"What do you have in mind, my Lord?" Lucius asked.

"There is only one thing that can be done, Lucius," he said excitedly. "I will continue my family line."

Draco noticed that the room fell silent. Inside, he felt sick.

"You see, how devastating it is indeed! Harry Potter, on the run, leaving his friends behind. Imagine, he hears the news- Hermione Granger, his most loyal friend, the brains behind his entire plan, will bear a child. My child."

"And that child will grow. And he will, eventually, be my most trusted Death Eater, and I will live on in his name. But poor Harry Potter- he will stop at nothing to get to Ms. Granger, to make it possible that she doesn't carry this baby, the child of Lord Voldemort. Not only will I be able to carry on my line, but we will capture Harry Potter in the process."

"Now, there is only one thing left for us to discuss," he said. "Ms. Granger here will need to be taken care of while she is bearing my child, in extraordinary safety."

Bellatrix rose. "My Lord, please allow me-"

Voldemort rose his hand to stop her. "No, Bellatrix, I have already chosen who will look after Ms. Granger."

"Draco-"

Upon hearing his name, he looked up at him with wide eyes.

"Me?"

"Yes, yes, I think that you will be best," he said. "With your marriage to that blood traitor Weasley, Ms. Granger will feel safe there at Malfoy Manor. I don't want her pulling any stunts while she is carrying my child, do you understand?"

Draco nodded, his heart beating erratically in his chest. And then he remembered he had promised Ginny that if he found her, that he would do something about it. This was his chance.

"Yes, my Lord," he said coldly.

Voldemort grinned, a sickening grin that made Draco's stomach lurch.

"Now that that is settled-"

He pointed his wand at Hermione, and with a flash of white that engorged the room, Hermione slowly levitated towards the table.

"It is done," Voldemort said. "You make take her now, Draco."

Draco slowly rose from his chair, feeling as if his legs wouldn't be able to hold him up for long, grabbed Hermione's hand, and Disapparated out of the room towards Malfoy Manor.

* * *

A/N: We hope that you enjoy our second chapter! In our rough draft, this scene with Voldemort and Hermione was very short, and I felt like this was such a significant event in the story that it needed to be fleshed out more- so here you go!

Thank you you for all of the reviews and story follows. Those made our day! :) As always, please check out our profile here on Fanfiction, and if you'd like, please check out our Facebook pages as well (all links in our profile). Thank you!

Oh! Also, thank you to Fire The Canon for pointing out to me that Deatheaters is actually spelled Death Eaters. Doh! :)

Lily & Ashley


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